Viganò was going in the right direction but has relented some with the advent of the Prevost (anti)pontificate, analogous perhaps to the way Archbishop Lefebvre temporarily softened his position after the transition from Montini to Wojtyła. That said, Viganò's position is less defensible since he has forthrightly declared Bergoglio an antipope and is now seemingly recognizing as pope a man who was selected by Francis' cardinals and has effectively canonized his predecessor.
Exactly. I was following Vigano's comments closely prior to the conclave. It's obvious with his lawsuit against the Vatican Bank that if Parolin had been elected that he would have rejected him as another antipope. Yet, he seemingly has backtracked on his previous claims regarding the invalidity of the conclave and has anointed Leo as, in his view, a legitimate pope like Ratzinger. I'm bitterly disappointed and surprised - I was wondering what his response would be to the new putative pontiff but gave very low odds to him accepting him as legitimate.
Bishop Schneider met with Bergoglio on multiple occasions, most recently in a private audience on Jan. 20, 2025. Francis was suspiciously tolerant of the auxiliary bishop. At a minimum, her appreciated the role Schneider played in providing a last line of defense for his pontificate and entire post Vatican II church.
Right, accepting Burke's own premises, is he implying that "Saints" Paul VI and JP II were guilty of perpetrating the persecution of the faithful as well? Then what does that imply about the post-Vatican II church?
Prevost just quoted from Amoris Laetitia in his message to the Seminar of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, on June 2nd: "Do not be discouraged by the difficult situations you face. It is true that families today have many problems, but “the Gospel of the family also nourishes seeds that are still waiting to grow, and serves as the basis for caring for those plants that are wilting and must not be neglected” (FRANCIS, Amoris Laetitia, 76). What great need there is to promote an encounter with God, whose tender love values and loves the story of every person! It is not a matter of giving hasty answers to difficult questions, but of drawing close to people, listening to them, and trying to understand together with them how to face their difficulties. And this requires a readiness to be open, when necessary, to new ways of seeing things and different ways of acting, for each generation is different and has its own challenges, dreams and questions. Yet amid all these changes, Jesus Christ remains “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb 13:8). Consequently, if we want to help families experience joyful paths of communion and be seeds of faith for one another, we must first cultivate and renew our own identity as believers." Pontifical Message to participants in the …
He once again quoted Francis: "Dear friends, we received life before we ever desired it. As Pope Francis said: “all of us are sons and daughters, but none of us chose to be born” (Angelus, 1 January 2025)." For all those who saw Francis as an aberration, Leo is saying "no" he was in continuity with the post Vatican II Church, a new sort of hermeneutic of continuity. In that sense he agrees with Tucho that Francis' teachings should be defended as part of the "recent Magisterium": EXCLUSIVE: I’m here to enforce the ‘recent’ …
See interview of Cardinal Reina from May 1st with America magazine. Excerpts: Gerard O’Connell: How would you explain the legacy of Pope Francis? Cardinal Reina: I would explain it using one of the principles he stated in “Evangelii Gaudium,” that is, we should not be preoccupied with occupying spaces but with initiating processes. Pope Francis had the courage to begin many processes within a church that needed reform, and still does, starting with synodality. Let’s start from the most recent: the role of women, the formation of seminarians, the reform of the curia. All these are open processes. Dialogue with so-called “irregular situations.” He initiated all of this with great courage because he placed himself at the service of truth and understood that the Gospel must always engage with the concrete reality lived by men and women of every time... Some cardinals charge that Pope Francis created too much confusion, and say his papacy was marked by rupture, and now we need order again. They accuse him of having internally polarized the church. Do you feel this way, too? Absolutely not. Pope Francis always described the scene of Pentecost. He would say the Holy Spirit came to shake things up. Recounting the Acts of the Apostles, which describes the moment the Spirit arrives—the wind, tongues like fire—there was great confusion even among the apostles. Then one must listen to the Spirit to discern.Discernmentwas a key word in Pope Francis’ magisterium. I absolutely do not see this confusion. Pope Francis was always in line with the [church’s] doctrine, with the magisterium, with the church’s tradition. He had the courage to engage with the realities people live today, for example, the situations of divorced and remarried persons, and always in a Gospel spirit: He used to say reality is more important than ideas, and reality is what we see before our eyes every day. To act as if that reality didn’t exist would be foolish... In that context, what do you think the profile of his successor should be? The profile is that of a man who, with great humility, knows how to take up Pope Francis’ legacy and continue the dialogue with the world. I believe Pope Francis was a great interpreter of Vatican II. That council, guided so masterfully by Paul VI, had dialogue with the world as its hallmark. This year marks 60 years since “Gaudium et Spes.” Dialogue with the world is one of the church’s urgent tasks today. Whoever follows Francis must take up the legacy of Vatican II and of Pope Francis and engage the world without fear because we have the Gospel. Precisely because of this, we can dialogue with everyone. In your homily for the novemdiales, you counseled to not be afraid. It seems you’re aware that a part of the church wants to take a step backward. Do you fear a step backward? Resistance to Pope Francis’ magisterium didn’t just appear now in the pre-conclave meetings; it’s been there all along, just with different tones. Think of what happened after “Amoris Laetitia” and the reactions to the Synod on Synodality. Pope Francis was aware of it, but he carried on, simply and with great determination. I’m not afraid. Just as the Spirit, 12 years ago, raised up Pope Francis—a great prophet—I’m convinced the Spirit will continue to seek and find someone with the same prophetic spirit, who will continue the reform process Pope Francis began. Cardinal Reina: The next pope must continue the …